


Bullying

by ValkerieRupert



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Middle School, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, Doctor Who References, Garnet angst, Gen, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, Jasper is a major jerk, Middle School, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, POV First Person, POV Garnet (Steven Universe), Slurs, Teachers are Useless
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-22
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-27 21:12:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,222
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16710106
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValkerieRupert/pseuds/ValkerieRupert
Summary: If I were walking up to the principal's office after school to tell them that my parents had been calling me homophobic slurs for months and had beat me today because I tried to ignore it, they would have called child protective services before I could finish the sentence.If I were walking up to the principal's office after school to tell them my boyfriend had been verbally abusing me for months and had beat me today because I tried to ignore it, they would have called a domestic abuse hotline if not the police.And yet here I am, walking back to the home of my loving moms, having told the principal that a girl has been calling me homophobic slurs for a few months and beat me today because I tried to ignore it.The girl is the same age as me and we're not dating, so I was told to just get a thicker skin.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> This is a kind-of sequel to 'Diary of the Kid with Two Moms', a story I started two days ago and then deleted. It was basically this story in a diary format, but I thought I could do more with the idea like this.

“Dyke!” she screams from across the room. “Answer me!”

The thought of her screaming at me from the other end of the room makes me sick with anxiety but I force myself not to look up. I continue with my work, praying that I'm not giving my fear away with my body language.

My friends stay silent next to me. Rose gives me a reassuring glance but that's all. The teacher looks up with surprise every time she yells, then tries to pretend she didn't hear anything. Talk about the elephant in the room.

I suppose I ought to explain how I got into this mess.

 

I should start by telling you about myself. My name is Garnet Corrundum, and I'm currently a few months into my first year at middle school. I'm a pretty typical African-American girl, apart from the fact that my natural hair looks like a cube and I have an inexplicable British accent.

The only other odd thing about me is my heterochromia, which is basically the fancy word for having two different eye colors. My right eye is onyx brown, like my mother’s, and my left is a sort of greyish-blue. 

The girl screaming homophobic slurs at me from across the room is named Jasper. She's the sort of kid that the class nerd befriends on the first day so that everyone's too scared to bully them. She's got muscles no middle schooler should have and these weird light patches on her dark skin, I think it's called vitiligo. She dyes her hair blonde and has a nose piercing.

Anyway, Jasper and I were friends on the first day of school. I thought we would get along really well until the end of the day.

It was the first day, so all the new kids were getting picked up by their parents. My moms parked their car closer to the school than Jasper’s, and we walked together, so she saw them as they got out of the car to greet me.

First, she saw Mom. Her real name is Ruby and she's my biological mother, thanks to a sperm donor. She has reddish cube-shaped hair tied back with a maroon ribbon and onyx eyes. She's pretty short. I must have gotten my above-average height from my father; I outgrew both of my moms long ago. 

My mum, whose real name is Sapphire, isn't technically related to me, but she definitely acts like a mother. She has pale skin and long wavy blonde hair that she dyes light blue. Her bangs always cover her eyes. 

Anyway, Jasper saw them and gave me this disgusted look and said, “They your parents?”

“Yeah…” I muttered.

“They're gay?”

“Yeah, you got a problem with that?”

She didn't say if she did, but after that, something just changed. The next day she started calling me a dyke and she's been doing it ever since. I tried telling the teachers but none of them actually did anything. Well, a few told her to leave me alone, but they never did anything to enforce it. My moms are furious about the whole thing but they don't work at the school so there's not much they can do.

Most of the people in my year hate me now, thanks to the rumors Jas has spread. I have four friends who I can count on, one of which never hangs out with us. Like, ever.

Her name is Bismuth. She has dark skin and dreadlocks dyed with rainbow streaks. She tried standing up for me once, but she got too angry and called Jasper ‘Stripes’. Got detention.

Then there's Pearl. Skinny girl, with piercing blue eyes and short strawberry blonde hair. She's terrified of Jasper. I can see why, but I wish she'd help.

I'm also friends with Amethyst, Jasper’s cousin. She can't do much without getting in trouble at home, but she tries to tell Jasper to knock it off in a way that sounds like she's joking. She's shorter than my moms and - not to be rude, there's nothing wrong with her body type - pretty big. She has wild hair like Jasper’s, though hers is dark brown with lavender streaks.

Finally, there's Rose. Her hair is naturally blonde but she dyes it pink, and it's really long and curly. She's a fair bit taller than me and definitely on the large side. She tries to stand up for me when Jasper’s being a jerk but she's too pacifistic to be much help. She suggested that I just ignore her, so I've been doing that for the past week. 

And that's where we left off - Jasper screaming across the room for me to answer her. 

I've got a bad feeling about this.


	2. The First Hit

I ignore Jasper for the rest of the lesson. I'm grateful when the bell goes, even though it's only period 2 - we still have a few classes to go. We have math next, so I gather my stuff into my bag and leave the room. I'm halfway to the math classroom when something hits me in the side of the head, hard enough to knock me into the wall.d, hard enough to knock me into the wall beside me. The hand pushes me against the wall again and I collapse to the ground.

My head still spinning, I look up. Sure enough, it’s Jasper. “Can’t ignore me now, you stupid dyke!”

She kicks me in the stomach and I groan in pain. “Stop! Please, just stop!”

“Guess that’s why you shouldn’t ignore me!” she taunts, kicking me again. 

“Okay! I won’t ignore you anymore!”

She kicks me one final time, then stomps off. Rose walks up to me; I can only assume she and the others were too shocked to do anything. She holds out her hand to help me up. I take it, shaking. 

“Woah, you okay?” asks Amethyst. 

“Yeah…” I breathe, though I doubt I’m fooling anybody.

“Jeez, I always knew J was a major jerk, but even I didn’t expect that.”

Pearl frowns. “Garnet, you have to tell someone about this. It’s gotten physical.”

“I don’t know who else I can tell,” I reply, not seeing the point. “My moms know, but there’s virtually nothing they can do, and none of the teachers have done anything.”

“Have you told the principal?” Rose suggests.

“No…”  I mumble. “I suppose that’s a good idea.”

As we walk off to math class together, I take my phone out of the pocket of my jeans. I go through my contacts until I find Mum and type up a message.

_ Something happened w/ Jasper. Im telling the principal abt it after school so i might be late home. _

 

I’m shaking a little as I walk to the principal’s office at the end of the school day. My face is bruised up from the earlier confrontation with Jasper, so at least they can’t accuse me of lying about it. But since I've only been here a few months and I haven't gotten in trouble or anything, this will be the first time I ever talk to the principal.

I knock on the office door. “Come in!” calls a voice. I open the door to see a woman with grey hair tied into two buns at the sides of her heads. “How can I help you?” she asks robotically. 

“I'm looking for the principal…” I answer timidly.

“Okay, I will go and get her.”

She walks off and comes back a moment later being followed by an older woman with greying spiky hair wearing a white dress and loads of makeup.

“Hello!” she says brightly in a voice that suggests she mistook me for a preschool student. “What is your name?”

“Garnet,” I answer. “I'm in year six.”

“Oh! So you must be fairly new to this wonderful school! How are you finding your time here?”

“It's been good,” I answer weakly. “There's just been one problem…”

“Oh dear, we can't have that! What's the problem?”

“Well…” I bite my lip. “I'm being bullied.”

“Oh dear! How awful! Who is bullying you?”

“Her name is Jasper. Jasper Garcia.”

“Oh dear,” the principal says, considering this. “Well, you see, Jasper has some anger issues, and her mother makes some… _ contributions... _ that we couldn't stand to risk losing by punishing Jasper.”

My jaw drops. I clench my fists. “Please, just tell me what's going to be done.”

“Well…” She considers for a second. “We can't do anything about Jasper. So you'll just have to get a thicker skin.”

 

“Garnet! Your face! What happened?”

Mom’s worried voice makes me feel guilty for a second. For making her worried. For letting this happen. 

Mum takes one look at me as I walk into the house and bites her lip. “Jasper?”

I nod weakly. “I tried to ignore her...she got frustrated and hit me. It looks worse than it is.”

“Well, you told the principal about it, right?” Mom asks hopefully. “So she's getting in trouble, right?”

Mum shakes her head. “Jasper’s mom donates a lot to the school. They might not punish her as much as they should.”

“She…” I stutter, and the tears that have been wanting to come out since Jasper had first hit me finally fell down my cheeks. “The principal - she said she can't risk punishing Jasper and that I should just get a thicker skin!”

“WHAT?!” screams Mom. “They can't do that! This is my daughter’s education, they can't just decide Jasper’s more important! I swear, I am gonna sue their-”

“Calm down, Ruby,” Mum says reassuringly. “We'll call the school tomorrow. I'm sure we can persuade them to take action.”

I nod weakly, if only to reassure my moms. 


	3. The Newcomer

It’s the day after my confrontation with Jasper and being told to get a thicker skin and I’m trying my best to just stay out of her way. Luckily she hasn’t really said much to me yet, because I’m not sure what to say if she does. I’m scared that any answer will be mistaken for being a smartass.

I’m in art class right now. We’re drawing fruits. I don’t want Jasper to see mine. I don’t think she’ll have anything good to say about it.

I hear a knock on the door. I walk over to open it and for a terrifying moment I think I’m staring at Jasper. The girl standing in front of me has the same dark skin with vitiligo, the same onyx eyes. Then I get a hold of myself and realize it can’t be. This girl is even taller, with wilder hair that is white instead of blonde. 

“Garnet!” hisses Amethyst. I turn to see her frantically gesturing for me to sit back down. I quickly sit down as the girl walks up to the teacher.

“Sorry to bother you, miss,” she explains. “I’m in the art class next door, and Mrs wants to know if we can borrow your paints?”

“Of course,” the teacher answers. “What colors?”

“All of them.”

“Oh.” The teacher looks over at the paint bottles. “Well, somebody will have to help you carry them out.”

“I volunteer!” yells Jasper, shooting her hand up.

The teacher gives her permission and the two grab the trays of paint bottles and walk out. As soon as they’re out of earshot, Amethyst sighs in relief.  _ “Pinche pejendo…” _

“What does that mean?” asks Rose in a warning tone; for some reason, she insists that we shouldn't be allowed to swear, but Amethyst tries to use her knowledge of Spanish to get around that. 

Amethyst blushes. “Nothing important.”

I nudge her. “What was that?”

“Malachite,” she explains. “She’s J’s sister, and she’s even worse than Jas. She’s in year eight and she has some major anger problems...and she’s really protective of Jas. So, like, if J said you did something you didn’t do, then Mala might beat you up. I was just tryna protect you.”

“Great.” I mutter. As if I wasn’t already scared of Jasper enough, now I know that if I ever try to stand up to her then I’ll get beat up. Just great. 

“Don’t worry,” she says unconvincingly. “J’s more of the brutally honest type, not the accusing people of stuff to get her way type. And what happened yesterday…I’m not trying to defend her or anything, but she’s not normally physical. You just really ticked her off by ignoring her.”

I know she was trying to be reassuring, but she didn’t do a very good job.

 

I’m in PE class now. PE was my best subject all through elementary school, but it was clear from day one that Jasper would be dominating the class in PE here. I lack the courage to try  when Jasper was playing; if we were on different teams I would try my hardest, but if she was on the same team as me I would melt into the background with Pearl as we both try to avoid letting the ball get near us. 

Today we’re playing basketball in the gym. Jasper and I are on opposite teams, so at least I can have fun by actually participating. Amethyst is on my team and she has the ball. As Jasper’s team circles around her, she looks around frantically for someone to pass the ball to. I wave my hand up to signal that I’m open, and she calls out my name and throws the ball towards me. I’m about to catch it when Jasper’s elbow knocks me against the wall.

My wrist gets trapped between my body and the wall of the gym. As Jasper runs off with the ball, I quickly check my arm for injuries. My wrist starts to throb; I try moving it a little and it hurts more. For a terrifying moment I’m worried it might be broken. 

“Aww, c’mon!” Amethyst protests, pointing at me. “Sir! She just hurt Garnet!”

Jasper pauses, holding the ball still and looking up at the coach with pleading eyes. “Sir, I was just trying to get the ball! I didn’t mean to push her!”

“Hmm,” he mutters. “Garnet, what do you think?”

I don’t want to get Jasper in trouble, since her revenge couldn’t possibly be worth it, but I also don't want to lie. So, I totally ignore his question and rub my wrist. “Sir, I think I need to go to the nurse to get some ice.”

“Okay,” he replies. He looks around the gym. “Would anyone like to take her?”

A few people raise their hands - Rose, Pearl, Amethyst, Bismuth, and a few kids who normally aren't my friends but will take any chance to get out of PE. I choose Pearl, since she hates sports. I wouldn't want the others, who enjoy basketball, to miss out because of me.

“How's your wrist?” she asks as we walk to the nurse’s office.

“I think it'll be okay...I just need some ice. Are you doing anything after school?”

She nods. “I'm studying with one of my friends.” She stares at me for a moment, then adds, “Don't look at me like that! We're actually just studying! It's not like that - I mean, we're both girls!”

I glare at her and she blushes. “You know what I mean!”

 

I'm at home now luckily. It's around four in the afternoon. My wrist doesn't hurt as much now but Mum says we'll have to go to a doctor if it gets worse.

I hear my phone ringing. I check the caller ID and it's a number I don't recognize. I answer it and hear a familiar voice; I think it's one of my classmates, but I can't be sure who. 

“Is your refrigerator working?” she asks.

It's the oldest trick in the book, but I decide to humor her. “Yes.”

“Well, you'd better go catch it, then!”

She burst into laughter. 

“No, no,” corrects a familiar voice in the background. “You're meant to say  _ running!” _

I grin as I hang up. I go through my contacts list and, upon finding the right number, I type up a message.

_ You: pearl i herd u in the background when ur study buddy was prank calling me  _

Pearl Mutya:  _ It was Amethyst’s idea lol. I had to get Peri to make the call because you would recognize my number. I hope you don't mind that I gave her your number. _

I chuckle; only Pearl could fail to realize she could hide her number when calling me. She has this weird anti-technology quirk.

At around four I get another text message, not from Pearl this time. The number looks familiar so I check my recents and it's the girl who prank called me. 

_ Unknown Number: HEY GARNET NOW THAT I HAVE UR NUMBER CAN WE BE FRIENDS  _

_ You: umm who is this??? _

_ Unknown Number: MY NAME IS PERIDOT AND I AM PEARLS STUDY BUDDY _

_ Unknown Number: I WANT TO BE UR FRIEND BUT I AM ALSO JASPERS FRIEND SO THIS IS THE ONLY WAY I CAN CONTACT U WITHOUT ENDANGERING BOTH OF US _

_ You: ok then we can be friends but cool it with the caps lock  _

_ Unknown Number: THEN HOW WILL U KNOW I AM A DALEK?! _

_ You: oh yeah my mum watches that show _

_ You: i watch it sometimes 2 but shes a huge nerd _

_ You: ok i have 2 go now bye _


	4. Bloody Hell

The next day I make a conscious effort to notice Peridot. She's a short girl, with vaguely triangular blonde hair and bluish-green eyes behind rectangular glasses. She's wearing a green shirt with a yellow diamond on it, and a black skirt with green tights. She winks at me as I walk past her on the way to class. I wink back.

I flinch slightly as I look at my locker. I’ve been cleaning it whenever I get the chance and drawing stars on it with a pink sharpie to make it feel more me, but with a keen eye, I can still see the faded messages Jasper wrote on it. Shaking my head, I open my locker, grab my English binder and close the locker as I walk off. 

I see Pearl walking ahead of me, so I run over to her. “Hey, Peri and I are friends now.”

“Oh, really?” she asks, her nose in a book as she walks.

“Yeah, she texted me after the prank call. But don’t tell anyone, it’s kind of a secret.”

“I’m quite surprised you heard me in the prank call,” she mutters, still not looking up. “You have to be pretty observant to catch something like that. Then again, I myself am very attentive -”

She walks directly into a wall. I chuckle. “So you were saying something about being attentive?”

She blushes. “I was paying attention to my book!”

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I take it out and check my messages. 

_ Peridot: HEY HOWS IT GOING? _

_ You: pretty good...at least till jas gets here :( _

_ Peridot: DONT WORRY IM SURE ITLL BE OK _

_ You: i hope so… _

I turn off my phone as I walk into the classroom and sit down. Jasper and Amethyst arrive a few minutes later, fashionably late as always. Amethyst sits next to me, glaring at Jasper.

“Jas and I had a bit of a... _ friendly debate... _ this morning.”

I bite my lip. For Amethyst, a ‘friendly debate’ means screaming profanities, and I don't want Jasper to be angry. She'll take it out on me.

Pearl is sitting on the other side of me. She smiles. “I'm studying with Peri again tonight.” She sounds proud, like she just won an award or something. 

“Good to hear.” I reply, and her cheeks go red.

Then the teacher comes in and we start on our work. Around halfway through the period I raise my hand. I wait for Miss to call on me and say politely, “Miss, may I please go to the bathroom?”

She gives me a disapproving look, but nods. I stand up and walk towards the door. I'm halfway through opening it when I hear the voice I hoped wouldn't talk to me today asking the question I hoped nobody would ask:

“Why are you taking your bag?”

I feel my cheeks going red; having anyone ask that question is intimidating enough, especially in middle school when it’s all new and scary, but Jasper basically making sure the whole class knew I was on my period? It was like a nightmare come true.

Panic mode kicks in and I walk outside, slightly faster than normal. I want to get as far away from Jasper as possible. By the time I’m near the toilets I’m practically running. I lock myself in a cubicle, breathing heavily, and I know that I’m not leaving until class is over.

 

It's not until a few minutes into history class that I have the strength to go to class. Rose gives me a worried look as I sit down. “Garnet, you were in there all period…”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “I had my period…”

She gives me a look and I sigh. “Okay, I was also hiding from Jasper.”

Satisfied, she goes back to her work. I hear Jasper’s menacing laugh behind me. “Look who’s too  _ scared  _ to become a woman! She hid in the bathroom like a little baby!”

“Eh, don't listen to ‘er,” says Amethyst, and I try to follow her advice.

 

I'm at home now. I've finished my homework and I'm bored, so I try my phone. Nobody's posting anything on the Internet, so I consider talking to a friend. I decide to text Peridot since I don't know her that well. I wait twenty minutes for a response, then give up.

Fifteen minutes later she finally replies.

_ You: hey i was thinking i should get 2 know u, wanna talk? _

_ Peridot: I APOLOGISE FOR THE DELAYED RESPONSE, I WAS AT THE MOVIES WITH PEARL AND MY PHONE WAS OFF  _

_ You: uhh pearl said u 2 were studying??? _

_ Peridot: WE WERE  _

_ Peridot: WE WERE STUDYING AT THE MOVIES  _

_ You: uhh ok… _

_ Peridot: ANYWAY I HAVE TO GO NOW, I AM MEETING JASPER TO WATCH HER FOOTBALL GAME AND SHE STILL DOESNT KNOW WE R FRIENDS  _

_ Peridot: BYE _


	5. Breaking News

I’m walking to school, like I normally do in the mornings. It’s a short walk, only around twenty minutes, but I’m used to doing most of it by myself. I don’t meet up with Rose until we’re only around five minutes from the school, and Pearl always gets to school really early so I don’t see her unless she’s running late. 

So, naturally, I’m pretty surprised when I see Peridot walking ahead of me. 

I run over to her. “Hi, Peri. Didn’t expect to see you here.”

She jumps in shock when she sees me. “Yeah, I - uhh - I missed the bus so I had to walk.”

“Oh, that’s why I never see you walking. I’m going to assume the football game was awful.”

Her cheeks go bright red. “Uhh, yeah, Jas forced me to come watch. Hehehe! I hate football! Okay I have to go now bye!”   
She runs off. I stare at her, bewildered.

 

“Guess who’s got good news?”

I grin as Amethyst sits down next to me, a wild grin on her face.

“Tell us.” I coax.

“Well, J had a football game yesterday, and my parents forced me to come ‘cause we’re cousins, and I may have taken advantage of the opportunity just a little…”

Rose glares. “What did you do?”

“...Eh, long story, she’s not coming to school today.”

I sigh in relief, then glance over at Peridot. Why didn’t she mention it? Maybe she just went home early. She’s not into sports anyway.

The teacher comes in and our moment of victory is over; we have to get started on our schoolwork. Around ten minutes into the lesson, my phone starts to ring. My ringtone is loud enough for the teacher to hear, so she offers to let me go outside to take it. I nod and stand up, waiting until I'm in the corridor to answer it.

The caller ID is a number I don't recognize, so I probably shouldn't have bothered going out to answer. Probably just someone trying to sell me stuff. Still, I answer it. 

“Hello?”

I hear a familiar raspy voice.

“Hey, dyke.”

Panic kicks in and I hang up with shaking hands. She rings again and I turn my phone off so she can't call again. My legs are shaking beneath me. She got my phone number. Now there's nowhere I can go where I'm safe from her. I slide against the wall of the classroom, curl into a ball and sob into my knees.

 

“G-Garnet?”

I look up. It's Peridot.

“I'm sorry…” she mutters.

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“No, you don't understand…” She gulps. “Yesterday...at the football game...I had to give it to her...she was going to beat me up…”

I put the pieces together and my blood boils with rage. I shove my phone into her hand. “Block her number. Now.”

She nods and turns the phone on. After a few minutes she hands it back. “So we're even now, right? Forgive and forget?”

I ignore her.

"Forgive and foget, right?"

I stand up and walk back inside, too furious to answer.

 

Clearly whatever Amethyst did to Jasper wasn't enough, because she's back at school the next day. I try to just stay out of her way but of course that can't work forever. I'm in the cafeteria at lunch when she grabs my arm from behind. “Why'd ya block my number, dyke?”

I pull my arm away from her and she grabs my other arm. I pull away again, staring at her.

Jasper’s bigger than me, but not by much. She has no business pushing me around. It's been months and I'm sick of her. I draw back my fist and punch her in the face.

She flinches backward, astonished. I look around at the others. Pearl and Amethyst look impressed. Even Rose, who has always been strictly non-violent, is trying not to smile.

Then I see a familiar teen staring at us, and remember what Amethyst told me in art class. 

I try to tell myself otherwise but I know it's her - the same tall and muscular build, the same onyx eyes, the same wild white hair, the same vitiligo.

“Malachite!” hisses Amethyst. “Run, G, she's gonna beat you up!”

I don't need further prompting; I run for my life. But she's two years older than me and I know in my heart that I can't outrun her forever.

When she catches up, she grabs the back of my shoulder and pins me face-first against the wall. Then she grabs my left arm and twists it behind my back. 

She keeps twisting.

Faintly I hear the sound of something cracking, but it's almost immediately drowned out by my own scream of pain.

She releases me and I collapse to the ground, clutching my left arm as tears fall down my cheeks.

 


	6. The Meeting

I wake up to find my moms standing over me. I look around and realize that this isn't my bedroom. “What happened?” I ask Mum.

“The school says you fainted,” she answers. “And the painkillers kept you unconscious for a few hours.”

“That Mala girl really messed up your arm,” adds Mom. “Spiral fracture. They gave you surgery while you were out cold.”

“Don't worry,” explains Mum. “We're scheduling a meeting with the school as soon as you're out of the hospital. This has gone on long enough.”

 

The meeting is at four in the afternoon a few days later, when my arm is in a huge cast. My moms drive me down to the school and we walk to the meeting room together. There's a white square table in the middle of the room. The principal sits down and I sit down opposite her. Mom sits down on my left, Mum on my right.

“So,” begins the principal, who still seems to think I'm a preschooler. “I believe you've been having a problem?”

“Yes,” says Mum. “Our daughter Garnet is being bullied and we feel - with all due respect - that not enough is being done to ensure her safety.”

“Oh, is this about the broken arm?” she says. “Because you can hardly blame Malachite for that. She has anger issues, and she thought Jasper was in danger.”

Mom growls and Mum clears her throat. “Garnet is usually very non-violent. I'm not saying that her punching Jasper is acceptable, but it wouldn't have happened in the first place if she hadn't been feeling harassed.”

“Well, if you wanted to avoid her being bullied, then maybe you shouldn't have been so openly gay.”

Mom opens her mouth to say something, then slams her fists on the table and storms out. Mum blushes. “Please excuse us, I'll go talk to Ruby. Come on, Garnet.”

 

Mom is furious. She paces around outside. Well, half paces, half stomps.

“For God’s sake, Sapphire!” she snaps. “I've been telling you what we have to do from day one!”

“I know,” says Mum calmly. She turns to me. “Garnet, how many friends do you have at this school?”

“Five.”

“And how many are you able to contact outside of school?”

“All five.”

“Good,” she says. “Because starting today, we're never coming back to this school.”


	7. Epilogue

I've missed out on a few weeks of school while the enrolment process is sorted, and I'm making an effort to stay in touch with my friends. We all meet up at the local donut store every Saturday. Last I heard, Pearl and Peridot were spending the evening on Valentines Day ‘studying’ over a candlelit dinner.

It's my first day at the new school today. I'm nervous. I feel like it'll all happen again. Still, I force myself to go. I sit alone in class and at lunch, because the first person I befriend might be Jasper 2.0. 

A few minutes into lunch a girl sits next to me in the cafeteria. “Hey, you're new here, right?”

I nod. “I'm Garnet.”

I hold out my hand. She shakes it. “My name's Opal.”

She's a tall girl, with dark skin and blonde hair that goes down to her ankles even in the high ponytail it was tied into.

“Hey, Opal!” says a voice. “Way to abandon us for the new girl!” 

I turn. It's another girl, with long curly black hair wearing a coral pink shirt with a yellow star on it and jean shorts. “Hi,” I mutter. “I'm Garnet.”

“You can call me Stevonnie,” she replies. “You're cool with queer people, right?”

“My moms are lesbians, so yeah.”

“Good, then we can be friends. I use they/them pronouns except when my parents are listening.”

“Okay.” I reply.

They nod and run off. A second later they come back with a few people behind them and sit down. “Okay, welcome to the group. This is Smoky - they use they/them pronouns too, Rhodonite - she/her, and Rainbow - she/her.”

“Do you have to include pronouns when you introduce us?” asks Rhodonite

“You're just saying that because you and Opal are the only cis people here,” replies Smoky.

I smile. I think I'm going to like it here.


End file.
